Niagara Falls 36×48 in. Oil on canvas by Hall Groat Sr.

Niagara Falls 36×48 in. Oil on canvas by Hall Groat Sr.

Niagara Falls

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36×48 in. Oil on canvas by Hall Groat Sr.

$5,500

Artist Essay About Painting

Recently I completed this 36×48 in. oil on canvas of the Niagara Falls depicting how it looks before sunset. The colors were extraordinary. It`s no easy task to paint the falls when the water won`t hold still— LOL. In 1911 during a cold snap, the falls became frozen solid for the second time in history. “It`s actually beautiful frozen” were comments made by tourists of that earlier time. The falls brings out dare devils who design strong barrels to crawl into— defying death while going over the falls. It`s hard not to think of all those nuts through history who have died in poorly designed barrels or just thought they could out swim the current— and were pulled over to their doom. A few years ago an expert tight rope walker from the famed Wallenda family made the walk across to Canada.

For many movie buffs, Marilyn Monroe warmed the raging waters with her” knock dead” curvaceous body in the thriller “Niagara.” Many painters throughout history have tackled this challenging subject. Ironically, my parents surprised me with an oil painting set on my 12th birthday and the first painting I ever did was of Niagara Falls from a photo. It was many years before I saw it in real life. When millions of tourists from abroad visit America, Niagara Falls is a must for them to visit. Unfortunately, the American side of the falls has eroded although the Canadian side has remained solid. It`s fun to take the elevator to the bottom and ride in the boat under the refreshing water spray. The boat supplies raincoats with no worries about getting wet.